Before the work of ministry could be entered upon or the Body built up

something had to be done to meet the dispensational crisis of Acts 28.  The

need brought about by the state of affairs at that time is expressed in the

word `perfecting'.  Had the church of the One Body been the `perfect' state

of which the church of 1 Corinthians 13 was the immature, then this

development of doctrine and status could have been expressed by the word so

often translated `to perfect' (teleioo).  This, however, is not the case.

The word used here for the `perfecting' of the saints indicates a rupture, a

break, a dislocation, such as we might expect when such a drastic setting

aside of the channel of blessing took place, as it did, in Acts 28.

Katartismos.  This word, according to Cremer, is used in classical

Greek in medical works only.  Katartizo occurs in Matthew 4:21, `mending

their nets', where the primary idea restore is seen.  In 1 Corinthians 1:10

it comes in a context of division:

`I beseech you ... that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be

perfectly joined together'.

So also in Galatians 6:1:

`Ye which are spiritual, restore such an one'.

To mend as one would a broken net, to be perfectly joined together as

contrasted with division, to restore as one would a dislocated limb (the

medical use of the word), this sense seems uppermost in Ephesians 4.  The

apostles and prophets of the earlier order were not fitted to mend the

rupture that had been caused by Israel's rejection.  A special set of

apostles and prophets was given by the Lord, whose primary business it was to

bridge the gulf, and to reset the saints into their new position.  These

apostles and prophets laid the foundation (Eph. 2:20).  Their work was

accompanied and also followed by the evangelist and the teacher, and all

united together in the one great work of readjustment, for the very gospel

took on new aspects, such as the `gospel of peace' and the `gospel of glory'.

At such times some old things pass away, some old things are brought over

into the new setting, and some new things are revealed.  It is only through

the writings of the later ministry of Paul that we can learn these

Take an example well known to most students of Scripture.

In 1

Corinthians 11 are two important items of church practice:

The position of women in relation to men in the ministry.

The Lord's Supper.

Apart from the teaching given by the specially equipped ministers whose

work it was to readjust the saints, we should not know whether both the above

were carried over into the new dispensation, whether both were left behind,

whether the Lord's Supper only was retained, or whether the relationship of

the man and woman only was carried over.  Who could possibly decide this but

the Lord Himself?  In Paul's first epistle to Timothy (2:8 -15) the relation

of the sexes in ministry is repeated, and readjusted.  Here we stand upon

positive teaching.  The second item, the Lord's Supper, is not repeated,

either in this chapter, this epistle, or in any epistle written by Paul for

the instruction of the church and its ministry after Acts 28.